Promises Keep (The Promise Series) (28 page)

“Here,” he ordered, seeing how she struggled to button any buttons below her chin due to the drooping sleeves of the coat. “Let me do that.”

With quick efficiency, he made short work of the fastenings, cocooning Mara from head to toe in the warm coat. Cougar plopped a wide-brimmed, floppy hat on her head as additional protection against the weather.

With her wrist, she shoved the hat back. “I don’t think this is necessary.”

He buttoned his coat at the middle. “I do.”

She held her hands out to the side. “You’d better hope none of your hands are superstitious.”

He pulled his black Stetson from the hook by the door.

“Why?” he asked as he held the door open for her. Fresh air, smelling crisply of fall, rushed in the door. Mara held her hands out to her side and made wooing noises.

“They could mistake me for the ghost of unwashed wranglers.”

“Not much danger of that.”

“Why not?”

“You don’t smell right.”

She stopped halfway to the door. “I smell?”

“Damned good too.”

He prodded her the rest of the way out the door with a pat on the fanny. It was his turn to laugh at the way she scooted out. Pausing only long enough to pull the door shut, he followed her across the yard.

The night was beautiful. So sharp and clear, the stars seemed close enough to touch. Mara stopped by the barn, her gaze focused on the sky. “Do you have a book on the stars?”

Coming up beside her, Cougar looked at her expectant face. “I might have one.”

“Would you mind if I read it?”

“You can read anything you want.”

The full moon kissed Mara’s delicate features with a flattering glint of pale light. He could see she felt awkward asking him for the book. He tilted her hat back further on her head with a slow motion. “You know, Mara. I’m not a poor man. You can have whatever you want. If there isn’t a book in the library to suit your needs, order it.”

“Thank you.” Mara shoved her hands in her pockets and resumed walking.

Cougar watched in exasperation as Mara forged on ahead of him like a locomotive, her breaths chugging behind in frosty clouds. He didn’t know if she thought the cost of a book would break him or if she was uncomfortable asking him for something, but he did know if he didn’t have the book she wanted, she’d simply do without.

“Mara,” he called. When she turned, he crooked his finger at her. Her chin immediately came up. He bit back his smile. She was a touchy little thing. Predictable too, as she stood there, not moving or saying a word.

“I could come get you,” he mused.

She folded her hands over her stomach. “You could…”
For all the good it would do you
,
was implied.

He settled his weight into his moccasins and pretended to consider the matter. “Of course, if I do, I’ll have to punish you.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. The effect was somewhat ruined by the bulky coat. “For what?”

“For being wayward.”

Her hands dropped to her sides. “You’re not serious?”

No, he wasn’t, but he could tell she wasn’t sure. “It’s a man’s responsibility to control his wife and keep her on the straight and narrow.”

“I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Preachers harp on it every Sunday.”

“You go to church?” If he’d said he could fly, she couldn’t have sounded more skeptical.

“Right regular, too. Dorothy insists.”

The end of the coat sleeves flapped halfway to her knees as she put her hands on her hips through the material. “And you go?”

“I put a ton of stock in being accepted. I’m not about to throw it away by not attending church regularly.”

Because she seemed to soften at the being accepted part, he crooked his finger at her again. “Or by letting my wife stray from the path.”

Her spine snapped straighter than a spinster’s at an orgy. He tipped his Stetson down to hide his amusement.

“I take it from your posture that you’re not planning on obedience.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Now that’s a shame.”

“Not in my opinion.”

He took a step in her direction. “It was right there in the wedding promise.”

She took a step back, seemed to catch herself, and planted her feet solidly on the ground. “What was?”

“The word obey.” His strides were much longer than hers. His next put him within touching distance. This close, he could see her soft mouth beneath the shadow cast by her hat brim, and the puffs of breath that betrayed her nervousness.

“You planning on reneging?”

Her hand came to her abdomen as if it hurt, but her words were sure. “If you think that I’m coming running whenever you crook your finger, yes.”

He put his hands on his hips. “And you’re prepared to accept the consequences?”

That chin came up two notches, telegraphing her answer before the “yes” left her mouth.

On a “So be it”, he swooped in, tucked a hand under her knees and scooped her up into his arms. Her small scream died as she wiggled and wormed. Before she got the notion fully formed to hit him, they were at their destination. Keeping his arm behind her shoulders, he let her feet slide down until they landed on the crate resting against the side of the barn.

As soon as she felt the crate beneath her, she came up sputtering, shoving the hat off her face and wrestling her hands free of the coat.

Cougar caught both hands in his. He spread them wide, forcing her to lean forward, and then he looped them around his neck. He shrugged the bunched sleeve off his neck.

“What are you doing?” she squeaked, stretching up on her toes to keep her balance.

He pulled the hat from her head, revealing the apprehension in her wide eyes. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“No.” Exasperation laced that short syllable.

“Why, Angel, I’m about to take the price of your disobedience out of your hide.”

“You are?”

“Yup.” Cougar nodded as he unbuttoned their coats. Holding Mara still with his hands on her hips, he stepped forward until his chest very gently eased against hers. As she wore no undergarments, he had no trouble feeling the prod of her nipples through his shirt. His eyes closed on the pleasure. “Ahh. That feels heavenly.”

“It does?”

That high-pitched query brought Cougar’s eyes open. The hand holding the hat slowly inched up her spine, keeping Mara’s chest pressed to his while his free hand tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Yes, it does.” He nipped the lobe of her ear. Mara’s eyes flew wide.

“Steady,” Cougar murmured. If she got any stiffer in his arms, she’d shatter. “Nothing serious is going to happen. We’re just going to indulge in a little kissing.”

Mara fixed her gaze on the pulse beating in the hollow of Cougar’s throat. “Couldn’t we just shake hands?”

Pressing pillow soft kisses down the exposed curve of her neck, Cougar shook his head. He loved the way she smelled. That intrinsically feminine scent under everything that belonged only to her. He inhaled deeply before pulling back a fraction. “Nope. No handshakes. No polite words. No brotherly hugs. Just your mouth on mine. Now.”

There was a slight—very slight—hesitation during which he wondered if she’d back down, but just when he was sure he’d have to be the one to make the contact, her torso stretched against his, pushing her firm little nipples into his chest and that mouth—that delectable, full lipped, sweeter than honey mouth—aligned with his.

His groan was instinctive.

Her smile was triumphant. He knew from the way her lips stretched wide against his that she liked knowing she could drag that noise out of him. He liked it too. He liked it even better when he dragged it out of her.

He slid his hand up beneath her hair, tilting her head a fraction more to the right. He slid his tongue along the seal of her lips, taking her gasp into his mouth and her shudder into his being. “Keep your mouth open.”

Her “Why?” caressed the inside of his lips.

“For my tongue.”

This time she groaned, but her mouth stayed open, though her breath came in fragmented spurts. And he hadn’t even gotten going. Hells bells, she was going to be fun to have for a wife.

He met no resistance as he slowly slid his tongue between her lips. Instead, she held absolutely still. He might have mistaken her lack of movement for fear except her nails were cutting into the back of his neck, pulling him closer, and her eyes were wide open, staring into his, the pupils large and black. With every fiber of her being, she was waiting for his next move.

He didn’t want to disappoint her. He flicked the inside of her upper lip with his tongue, just to the right of the cute little arc. She flinched away but when she pressed back, it was harder. He did it again.

When her tongue came out to test the flesh he was teasing, he stroked it with his. Sliding up and down the moist little visitor, he coaxed another moan out of her. With a hand on her hip, he pulled her completely into his arms. He anchored her head into the palm of his hand and slanted his mouth completely over hers.

Gentleness fled as her taste flooded his senses. Her tongue followed his back into his mouth. No longer a passive participant, she became the aggressor, demanding he prolong the kiss when he would have broken it off. Her response spiked his need. She was tiny, potent, and burned brighter than a star in his arms. God above, he wanted her, and if he didn’t want to scare her off permanently, he needed to break this off now.

He pulled his mouth from hers. His breath mingled with hers as he murmured, “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

She stared at him in dazed confusion. Feathering two kisses across her eyes to close them, he put his hands on her shoulders and directed her around. “Turn around now and I’ll show you some constellations.”

Ten minutes. Cougar shook his head in amazement. Ten minutes was all it took for Mara to drain his mind of every particle of information it contained about the stars. He glanced down at the top of her head where it rested against his uninjured left side.

“You’re making me feel as guilty as he…heck for not pursuing the subject,” he declared. He made a mental note to order some additional books for his library.

“You don’t have to watch your language around me,” Mara said quietly.

Cougar turned Mara to face him. Standing on the crate, her lips were almost even with his. When she tilted her head, her hair swung thick and loose, framing her ethereal features in a dark cloud.

“Yes, I do.”

She frowned at him. “Why do you have to be so nice?”

“I wasn’t aware that I was.” He’d been described as a bastard, a mean son of a bitch, and a pain in the ass, but no one had ever slapped the handle of nice on him before.

Her frown deepened. “You know you are, and it’s not fair.”

“Why?”

“Because.”

“Because why?”

“Because I have a confession to make, and it would be so much easier if you were nasty.”

Now nasty he could easily work up to. He slid his hand around her waist. “What’s your confession?”

“I wasn’t quite honest when I told you about everything. When I came here to see if I wanted to continue our marriage.”

“Oh?”

A wind blew up, and snaked a shiver down Mara’s spine. Cougar pressed her closer.

“No,” Mara admitted. The hands she placed on his shoulders had the slightest tremor. “As much as I enjoyed Brad courting me, I didn’t enjoy his kisses.”

“Son of a bitch!” Cougar stepped back so fast, Mara nearly toppled off her perch. He caught her with one hand. As soon as she regained her balance, he took his hand away.

“You mean you actually let him kiss you?” Rage rolled over him. She was his, goddammit! Her kisses, all of them, belonged to him.

Her right hand extended in his direction before dropping to her side.

“Yes. On the cheek.” It was a bare hiss of sound.

He cursed again. She flinched. He struggled to stomp down the anger that beat at him. He took three even breaths, held the last and managed to find his voice. It came out more of a growl than a drawl but he managed to ask, “Just how far have you and the good Reverend taken this courtship?”

“I’m not a whore.”

That sad, proud little whisper wouldn’t put a dent in his anger, Cougar swore. Any woman who stepped out on her husband had best expect to lose a few layers of hide. If not more. Though a kiss on the cheek was not the huge crime she was making it out to be. Knowing Brad, he’d felt sorry for her and meant it to comfort.

Mara tossed up her chin and folded her hands across her chest. “Just because you found me at Cecile’s, I am not a whore.”

She stood there daring him, actually daring him to tear a piece off her when she should be sobbing and begging his forgiveness. And he probably could have stayed mad at her if she’d cried, but that Devil take the hindmost defiance of hers always snuck past his guard. There was just so little of her to back up the challenges she tossed out.